Posts Tagged ‘Madoff’

If the guilty verdict rendered yesterday in the trial of Madoff employees qualifies as full and fair justice in our nation, then we need to rethink our justice system.

Now, do not get me wrong. I do not have any sympathy for the sorry looking lot of defendants found guilty yesterday. In my opinion, they deserve what they get and were likely integral in aiding and abetting the massive fraud perpetrated by the swindler Bernard Madoff.

Are we to think, though, that the decades long scam perpetrated by Bernie and his rag tag team began and ended strictly inside his offices?

Four years after the fact and America still does not know what really transpired within the Madoff scandal. Who knew what? Who did what?

Are we supposed to believe that only Bernie and a few other miscreants within his web perpetrated this scam unbeknownst to others on Wall Street and within the halls of our financial regulators? That premise would take the definition of naivete to an exceptionally elevated level.

What other entities benefited from feeding off Bernie Madoff? Well, if we needed to rely on the likes of JP Morgan, we will seemingly never learn that info and likely more. Why is that? (more…)

Do the crowds on both sides of the political aisle think Americans are this naive? Well, actually, on that note, the pols from both sides are right. Many Americans remain exceptionally naive regarding far too many issues, financial and otherwise.

The media is clearly of little help in exposing the ugly underside of the Wall Street – Washington conspiracy. That said, many Americans are now far savvier than they were a few short years ago when it comes to appreciating the rackets being run by BOTH political parties, their cronies on Wall Street, and the puppets ensconced within too many of our regulators. (more…)

I have heard that line and iterations thereof from too many of our fellow citizens. Uncle Sam in the personage of Ben Bernanke, Tim Geithner, Henry Paulson, Mary Schapiro, John Boehner, Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama and many others can talk about the actions they have taken and will take to save our economy and our nation; however, in the midst of their supposed efforts they have failed, violated, and left behind tens of thousands of our fellow citizens in their wake.

As a longtime subscriber to The New York Times, could you enlighten me as to when the media in our nation diverted its mission of pursuing the truth to one of actively advancing agendas? Actually, Joe, hold that thought and perhaps we could have that lengthy discussion another time.

I write to you today specifically in regard to your interest in the ongoing legal battles in the recovery and restitution of funds in the Madoff scandal. In your recent commentaries (The Mets Switch Teams; March 19, 2012, and Helen Chaitman Doesn’t Know When to Quit; March 29, 2012), one does not have to read all that hard to gather you are a strong mouthpiece for SIPC trustee Irving Picard. In the process, you make what amount to ad hominem attacks on Ms. Chaitman who represents hundreds of Madoff investors.

Rather than debating the merits or lack thereof in the recent settlement crafted between the owners of the New York Mets and the SIPC trustee Irving Picard, perhaps we could dig a little deeper and address questions which remain unanswered yet central to what was really going on inside the Madoff operation. Given your position and accompanying power of the public pen, I would ask you to address the following: (more…)

All too often I have heard over the last few years from investors violated by the Wall Street-Washington incestuous process and feeling totally disenfranchised as a result. Why have investors gotten trampled?

restoring funds to investors with assets in the hands of bankrupt and otherwise financially troubled brokerage firms. The Securities Investor Protection Corporation was not chartered by Congress to combat fraud.

From where does SIPC raise its funds in order to offer this protection to investors? (more…)

As regular readers are fully aware, I write passionately about pursuing the truth while promoting investor education and investor protection. The history of the last few years has shown that the financial services industry has not exactly shared our passion.

Who has shared the passion and took very real professional risk in the process? Numerous and sundry whistleblowers. (more…)

Bernie Madoff deserves zero sympathy and less attention. On the other hand, those seriously impacted by his crimes deserve not only sympathy but also recompense. Irving Picard, the trustee pursuing that recompense on behalf of Madoff investors, is making some high profile claims and has generated substantial results. That said, selected Madoff investors have informed me that they give Picard very mixed reviews.

I first wrote about Wall Street’s self-regulatory organization, FINRA (the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) in January 2009. At that point and ever since I have believed strongly that for a revitalization of the health and confidence of our capital markets, our economy, and ultimately our nation itself that FINRA needed to become a MUCH more transparent organization. Regular readers of Sense on Cents know how passionately I feel.

Regrettably, though, outside of those regularly involved in the financial industry, I believe few people in our nation even know who FINRA is or what they do regulating Wall Street. I strongly believe that reality needs to change. Who would seem to share my belief? Amerivet Securities’ Lieutenant Colonel Elton Johnson, a member of the United States Army Reserve. (more…)

Some random thoughts and questions in the midst of trying to determine what is really going on in the markets, the economy, and the world:

1. Just how healthy are our major money center banks? How many toxic mortgage related assets remain on their books? Where are those assets marked? With the housing market continuing to erode, and it is, how can those asset valuations not be eroding as well?

2. Will the American public ever truly learn what happened inside Bernard Madoff’s operations? (more…)